Depending on whom you ask social media phenomenon of the last few years has either been a great boon to small business owners or a complete nightmare. No matter which side of the fence you are on, one thing is certain – small business owners can no longer ignore social media these days. Number of savvy owners has been using social media in innovative ways to improve different aspects of their business leading to higher sales and improved profit. Despite this fact, there are some who are fearful of delving into social media due to lack of knowledge or for fear of getting into quagmire.
Fear no more, friends!! The 3-step approach we have described below will navigate you through the challenging road to conquer the social media battle. We do not promise that you will become next Mark Zuckerberg with this approach, but we do believe that you will be able to overcome your social media fears and use it to the benefit of your business.
- Explore – The first and foremost step you need to take to overcome the social media anxiety is to find out what is already being said about your business in social media circles. You will be amazed to find out what your customers are talking about whether you like or not! This step alone should prompt you to brush off your fears and do something about it. To learn what customers are talking about your business put an alert on Google so that you can monitor it on a regular basis. In addition, go to site like Yelp and CitySearch to find out how your business is being perceived and discussed. This is where your potential customers are going before deciding if they want to give you the business.
- Establish – Once you know what is being discussed about your business and how it is perceived it is time to take control of your online reputation. The social media landscape is still Wild West. It is your responsibility to ensure that the information that is out there is fair and accurate representation of your business. If you don’t control your reputation on social media someone else will and that may not be to your liking. Sites like Yelp and others let you, the business owner, create a free account by which you can provide accurate information about your business. Make sure you contact them and ask to update any information that is not accurate.
- Engage – Once you recognize the need for social media and set the records straight about your business on various sites, it is now time to go on the offense and get engaged with your customers. Engagement is the hallmark of social media. Just lurking around and passively watching the show will not get you much further with your customers. You need to actively converse with those who are giving feedback and opinion about your business. Don’t be afraid of negative reviews. They are your opportunity to learn about your business reputation and make it better. You will want to acknowledge the mistakes, if they are genuine, and offer an apology along with an offer to make it better on their next visit. The more you engage in social media, the better your reputation will become over time.
This 3-step approach should make you comfortable with the social media. In addition, you need to be aware of dos and don’ts of social media to take full advantage. We will discuss it in the next post.
In the meantime, we would love to hear about experience with social media. How did you get started and overcome early fears?
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This is a great overview of social media strategy! It’s easy to get so wrapped up in trying to figure out what to post, in what frequency, and all of that that you forget what the real goal is: interacting with customers.
True. Social media is all about having a genuine and frequent interaction with your customers.